complicated.work

Free tool

Skills translator

Pick your current occupation and the one you're moving toward. See exactly which skills carry over, where you have an advantage, and what you'll need to develop — based on U.S. Department of Labor O*NET data.

Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is saved or sent anywhere.

How the skills translator works

O*NET — the Occupational Information Network, maintained by the National Center for O*NET Development and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor — rates each occupation on 35+ skills, 40+ work activities and 33 knowledge areas, using importance scores from 1 to 5 based on surveys of people actually doing the work.

The tool compares your current occupation's scores with your target occupation's scores across those same dimensions. Skills where both are high and close together are transferable. Skills where the target is much higher than your current are gaps to develop. Skills where you score higher than typical hires in the target are your edge.

What it won't do

  • It doesn't know your actual skills — only the typical profile for your occupation.
  • It doesn't rank how hard the gaps are to close, or how long it will take. Some gaps (a credential, a domain, a specific software) take years; others take weeks.
  • It doesn't account for your specific experience within the occupation, your industry, or your level.

Use the results as a conversation starter with yourself: which gaps are real for you, and which ones does your background already address in a way the occupation average doesn't capture?

Common career transitions

These twelve transitions come up often enough that we've written dedicated pages for each — covering what to emphasize on your resume, what interviewers will ask about, and how to frame the move.

See all transition guides →